Posts

Good Food and Ground Rent

How a land value tax could drive a food security based economy There is a quiet contradiction at the heart of most discussions about sustainable and relocalized food. Advocates speak passionately about shortening supply chains, restoring small farms, rebuilding market gardens on the urban fringe, and reconnecting communities with the land that feeds them. Yet the economics of land itself — its cost, its ownership, its speculation — are rarely interrogated with equal passion. This is a serious omission, because the price of land is one of the most powerful forces shaping what gets grown, where, by whom, and for whom. A national Land Value Tax (LVT) — or what we might more plainly call a National Ground Rent — would strike directly at this neglected root, and in doing so, would transform the economic landscape for relocalized, sustainable, secure food production. The unsustainable food system is based on a core land rights problem. To understand why LVT matters for food, we first need ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Citizen's Dilemma

  To all my friends who are dissatisfied with the way we are presently governed—whether you support the two main parties, their minority middle party, or the two upcoming challengers Reform or Greens—this concerns all of us. Democracy demands more than just your vote Let's start with what unites us: frustration. If you feel that British politics isn't working as it should, you're in good company. Across the political spectrum, people sense that something fundamental isn't functioning properly. We all share this frustration. Perhaps you're frustrated that Brexit hasn't delivered what you hoped—or that we left at all. Perhaps you're angry about immigration levels—or about hostile environment policies. Perhaps you despair at climate inaction—or at net zero costs. Perhaps you're outraged by inequality—or by tax burdens. Perhaps you feel ignored by Westminster—or smothered by it. Here's the remarkable thing: all of these frustrations are simultaneously va...
Post a Comment
Read more